Congressman Panetta Remembers the Victims of the Shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on the One Year Anniversary

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) released the following statement in memory of the victims of the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival one year after the tragedy. The horrific violence took the lives of Stephen Romero, 6, Keyla Salazar, 13, and Trevor Irby, 25, on July 28, 2019. Congressman Panetta represents part of the City of Gilroy.

"I join community members on the Central Coast in honoring and remembering Stephen Romero, Keyla Salazar, and Trevor Irby, young people whose lives were tragically taken in the shooting that occurred one year ago in Gilroy. My thoughts and prayers remain with the families and loved ones of the victims, and those injured. I also remain grateful for the will of our community and the support that they showed in the days and months following this tragedy. We truly are Gilroy strong and Gilroy proud.

"As a community member who attended the Garlic Festival on the same day of the shooting, as your Congressman, and as an American, I believe that we also must remain committed to confront our nation's gun violence crisis. For too long and too often, we are subjected to the mayhem that gun violence inflects upon our nation, from the three lives that were cut short on that day in Gilroy to the 30 lives that are lost to gun violence every single day. As I have said and as we have seen, thoughts and prayers are deserved, but they are deficient when it comes to solving this national issue that affects all of our local communities. In Congress, our thoughts and actions must be about how we can pass commonsense gun safety reform. If not, our prayers need to be for those who failed to act for our communities and country."

Congressman Panetta and his daughter were in attendance at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on the day of the shooting, but left three hours before the tragedy occurred.

Congressman Panetta has continued to advocate for and act on passing commonsense gun safety reforms in Congress. He is a cosponsor of and voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act. Those bills are awaiting action in the Senate. Congressman Panetta also authored legislation to remove firearms from those legally prohibited from owning them, and legislation to ensure completion of background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS) system. He has cosponsored the Assault Weapons Ban and legislation to ban high capacity magazines, as well as legislation that would make it more difficult for criminals, terrorists, and domestic abusers from owning or acquiring firearms. Congressman Panetta has also called for the President to support the Domestic Terrorism DATA Act and the Securing American Nonprofit Organizations Against Terrorism Act.